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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. court — of law
  3. staff — employees
  4. tear — to rip
  5. last — finally
  6. ball — a great time
  7. last — final
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. court — for sport
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. cap — of ice
  12. tear — from crying
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cap — a hat
  15. staff — a stick
  16. branch — a division
  17. last — to go on
  18. court — of a king
  19. tear — from crying
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. cap — a lid
  22. ground — a position
  23. ball — a dance
  24. staff — employees

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com